August 16, 2017

We've spent the last few days exploring Milwaukee for a little end-of-summer getaway. We started at the Museum of Art for an afternoon. If you're ever in Milwaukee, it is not to be missed. The building itself is its own work of art, and it is large enough to give each piece the right space to be appreciated. We also enjoyed lunch in the Museum restaurant, which affords a wonderful view of the water & walkway.

My favorite piece was this painting by Reginald Baylor called On Duty, Not Driving. He was a professional truck driver (can you spot the trucking references) until he quit to become a full time artist. I love his pop culture references, bright colors, and how he uses very thing tape for an awesome masked effect (you can see it most clearly on her blue top, but it is done throughout the piece). It really makes me want to go home and play with thin tapes.

We also enjoyed the furniture galleries ... I want this Frank Lloyd Wright desk (manufactured by AllSteel) for my office.

And I also loved all of the functional art like these cameras that Walter Dorwin Teague for Eastman Kodak in 1930 ... this design would likely still sell like hotcakes today.

Any of you that have followed are travels through the years know that we are big fans of Kimpton Hotels. When we say Milwaukee had a newer one, we made The Journeyman our destination. After we checked-in, we headed to the roof-top bar for some beverages.

The hotel is in the historic Third Ward neighborhood, which reminded us a lot of the neighborhood where we live (minus the boat slips and docks outside the condos). We walked to The Milwaukee Public Market for supper at the St. Paul Fish Company enjoying a Lobster Roll and Schlitz Battered Cod.

On day two, we spent the morning wandering around the neighborhood. One of my favorite stamps was a store called Mod Gen that was filled with all sorts of fun things including this succulent cabinet .,.. the rusted orange with the greens was magical.

We spent our afternoon with the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Field. We had 4th row seats behind home plate, which gave us a great view of the game. We couldn't resist catching a snap of former Cardinal and 2011 World Series Hero David Freese.

We had a gorgeous day in the sunshine (and thankfully in the shade eventually).

We ended the day with a walk to another Third Ward Restaurant DanDan. We ate at the bar and enjoyed visiting with the bartender. The Mule was made with Ginger Tea infused Vodka and Lime and was one of the best I've ever had. Have any of you infused your own vodka?

I was sorry that I was too full to try any of there awesome sounding desserts.

My choice of hues ended-up being a bit more vibrant, but I think you can still see the inspiration.

It was the perfect opportunity to ink-up my PaperTrey Ink Heart and Sole Stamps to celebrate my sister, who completed her second 10K this weekend with a new personal best race time finishing second in her class ... go girl! The framing sentiments reminded me of how the wreath framed her sentiment.

It's been one of those days in the studio ... you know the kind of day where no matter what you try to do, all you end-up with is a mess. I've got foil, glitter paste, ink, sequins all over the place ... a big crafty mess.

Normally, I would just walk away and try another day ... but I'm heading on vacation this week, so I needed to push through and get some projects across the finish line.

First, I thought I would use my MISTI and 6" gel press to create an inky background using those colors ... only one problems ... those colors of ink together are not pretty ... yep, an icky inky mess (I wanted you, it hasn't been pretty today).

So I decided to use the same process, but stick with one color ... Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink. I ink the Gel Press, spray with water, and then stamp onto the water color paper. I love the coverage I get with this process.

I thought I would try some Turquoise foil tape, but that failed miserably (somehow I managed to try to adhere the foil upside down ... )

I decided to cut my panel into two pieces, so I could make two smaller cards (4" x 5 1/2") using Impression Obsession Birthday Top Edgers Die Cuts (amazing how different the colors look in day light vs. my photo tent ... reality is probably somewhere in the middle).

I have two goals for today ... clean-up my studio & re-stock my card stash. This card helped me accomplish both. These baby stickers have been on my studio table some April when I made a card with the other pieces from the set ... and today, they finally made it onto a card.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch with scraps of paper from my scrap bin. It's their 300th Sketch, which is absolutely amazing! Since the stickers covered most of my oval, I added a small sticker sentiment to complete the design.

August 10, 2017

For the Peace on Earth Jingle Belles prompt, my issue is always choosing which of the many peace-themed items from my stash that I want to use.

This week I decided on some gorgeous Penny Black Stickeroos from 2005 (yes, they are timeless).

I added some Eyelet Outlet Silver Pearl Gem Swirls to finish my simple design. I cut a 5" x 7" card base down to a square, but it's still mailable for standard postage when you put it in the 5" x 7" envelope.